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Panels and menus

Enter values in panels, dialog boxes, and the options bar

  1. Do any of the following:
    • Type a value in the text box, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

    • Drag the slider.

    • Move the pointer over the title of a slider or pop‑up slider. When the pointer turns to a Hand icon, drag the scrubby slider to the left or right. This feature is available only for selected sliders and pop‑up sliders.

    • Drag the dial.

    • Click the arrow buttons in the panel to increase or decrease the value.

    • (Windows) Click the text box and then use the Up Arrow key and the Down Arrow key on the keyboard to increase or decrease the value.

    • Select a value from the menu associated with the text box.

    Photoshop Enter values in panels, dialog boxes, and the options bar
    Ways to enter values

    A. Menu arrow B. Scrubby slider C. Text box D. Dial E. Slider 

Work with sliders

About pop‑up sliders

Some panels, dialog boxes, and options bars contain settings that use pop‑up sliders (for example, the Opacity option in the Layers panel). If there is a triangle next to the text box, you can activate the pop‑up slider by clicking the triangle. Position the pointer over the triangle next to the setting, hold down the mouse button, and drag the slider or angle radius to the desired value. Click outside the slider box or press Enter to close the slider box. To cancel changes, press the Esc key.

To increase or decrease values in 10% increments when the pop‑up slider box is open, hold down Shift and press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key.

Photoshop Using sliders
Using different kinds of pop‑up sliders

A. Click to open the pop‑up slider box. B. Drag slider or angle radius. 

Note:

You can also “scrub” some pop‑up sliders. For example, if you hold the pointer over the word “Fill” or “Opacity” in the Layers panel, the pointer changes to the Hand icon. Then you can move the pointer left or right to change the fill or opacity percentage.

About scrubby sliders

In some panels, dialog boxes, and options bars, you can drag scrubby sliders to change option values. Scrubby sliders are hidden until you position the pointer over the title of sliders and pop‑up sliders. When the pointer changes to a Hand icon, you drag to the left or right. Holding down the Shift key while dragging accelerates the scrubbing by a factor of 10.

Photoshop Scrubby slider
Hovering over the title of a slider or pop‑up slider shows the scrubby slider

Work with pop‑up panels

Pop‑up panels provide easy access to available options for brushes, swatches, gradients, styles, patterns, contours, and shapes. You can customize pop‑up panels by renaming and deleting items and by loading, saving, and replacing libraries. You can also change the display of a pop‑up panel to view items by their names, as thumbnail icons, or with both names and icons.

Click a tool thumbnail in the options bar to show its pop‑up panel. Click an item in the pop‑up panel to select it.

Photoshop Viewing the Brush pop-up panel
Viewing the Brush pop‑up panel in the options bar

A. Click to show the pop‑up panel. B. Click to view the pop‑up panel menu. 

Rename or delete an item in a pop‑up panel

  1. Select an item, click the triangle in the upper right corner of the pop‑up panel, and choose one of the following:

    Rename Tool Preset

    Lets you enter a new name for the item.

    Delete Tool Preset

    Deletes an item in the pop‑up panel.

    Note:

    You can also delete an item in a pop‑up panel by holding down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and clicking the item.

Customize the list of items in a pop‑up panel

  1. Click the triangle in the upper right corner of the pop‑up panel to view the panel menu.
  2. To return to the default library, choose the Reset Tool Presets command. You can either replace the current list or add the default library to the current list.
  3. To load a different library, do one of the following:
    • Choose the Load Tool Presets command to add a library to the current list. Then select the library file you want to use, and click Load.

    • Choose the Replace Tool Presets command to replace the current list with a different library. Then select the library file you want to use, and click Load.

    • Choose a library file (displayed at the bottom of the panel menu). Then click OK to replace the current list, or click Append to add it to the current list.

  4. To save the current list as a library for later use, choose the Save Tool Presets command. Then enter a name for the library file, and click Save.
    Note:

    (Mac OS) Include the extension of the library file name so that you can easily share the libraries across operating systems. Select Append File Extension Always in the File Handling Preferences to append extensions to file names.

Change the display of items in a pop‑up panel

  1. Click the triangle in the upper right corner of the pop‑up panel to view the panel menu.
  2. Select a view option: Text Only, Small List, and Large List.

Display and define menus

Display context menus

Context menus display commands relevant to the active tool, selection, or panel. They are distinct from the menus across the top of the workspace.

Photoshop context menu
Viewing the context menu for the Eyedropper tool

  1. Position the pointer over an image or panel item.
  2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS).

Define a set of menus

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Choose Edit > Menus.

    • Choose Window > Workspace > Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus and click the Menus tab.

  2. In the Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus dialog box, choose a set of menus from the Set drop-down menu. For information on creating a new set, see Customizing keyboard shortcuts.
  3. Choose a type from the Menu For menu:

    Application Menus

    Lets you show, hide, or add color to items in the application menus.

    Panel Menus

    Lets you show, hide, or add color to items in panel menus.

  4. Click the triangle next to a menu or panel name.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • To hide a menu item, click the Visibility button .

    • To show a menu item, click the empty Visibility button.

    • To add color to a menu item, click the color swatch (if no color is assigned, it will say None) and choose a color.

  6. When you finish changing the menus, do one of the following:
    • To save all changes to the current set of menus, click the Save Set button . Changes to a custom set are saved. If you’re saving changes to the Photoshop Defaults set, the Save dialog box opens. Enter a name for the new set and click Save.

    • To create a new set based on the current set of menus, click the Save Set As button .

    Note:

    If you haven’t saved the current set of changes, you can click Cancel to discard all changes and close the dialog box.

  7. In the Save dialog box, enter a name for the set and click Save.
Photoshop Choosing color for menu item
Choosing a color for a menu item using the Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus dialog box

Delete a set of menus

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Choose Edit > Menus.

    • Choose Window > Workspace > Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus and click the Menu tab.

  2. In the Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus dialog box, choose a set of menus from the Set menu.
  3. Click the Delete Set icon  .

Temporarily show hidden menu items

It’s possible to temporarily show items that you’ve hidden in a menu. After the menu closes, the items return to their hidden state.

  1. Do one of the following:
    • From a menu with hidden items, choose Show All Menu Items.

    • Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) a menu with hidden items.

Note:

To permanently reveal all menu items, choose Window > Workspace > Essentials.

Turn menu colors on or off

  1. In Interface preferences, select or deselect Show Menu Colors.

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